Another group opposed to Young’s MSA bill starts working on new Congress

The Fishing Communities Coalition (FCC), a group of seven harvester associations that previously opposed efforts to modify the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), is already working to win over the next US Congress.

A statement issued this week by the group makes no mention of Alaska representative Don Young’s bill, HR 200, to reauthorize MSA while giving regional fishery management councils more flexibility when making decisions about harvest limits, but the group expressed strong opposition to the measure early last year. It also opposed S. 1520, a bill sponsored by Mississippi senator Roger Wicker that was championed by the recreational fishing industry.

Young’s bill is seen as being in trouble as it expires in just a few days as the 115th Congress comes to an end and the House is reconstituted in January with Democrats, who have largely rejected HR 200, in control.

Shell’s recent success in the US Gulf of Mexico includes its deepwater Dover discovery on Mississippi Canyon 612, reported last year, near its Appomattox platform. The well was drilled by the Deepwater Poseidon ultra-deepwater drillship. Sources: Shell, Transocean.

In lieu of the traditional shovel groundbreaking, Miami City Commission chair Ken Russell, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and Miami city manager Emilio T. Gonzalez (pictured l-r) perform the ceremonial water toss to mark the start of the first Miami Forever Bond project tackling flooding and sea-level rise. (Photo by City of Miami Office of Communications)